TO PROTECT AND SERVE
by rsb57
Summary: A different POV from someone who loves Starsky and Hutch.  Based on STARSKY'S LADY.


**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANY PART OF THE STARSKY AND HUTCH FRANCHISE. THE FOLLOWING IS FOR ENTERTAINMENT ONLY.**

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**Terry left Ollie and Starsky in Hutch's care. But I think it was Ollie that cared for all of them. This is Ollie's POV about his responsibility.

**TO OLLIE: BECAUSE YOU CARE!**

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**TO PROTECT AND SERVE**

Hutch was flat on his back in bed. It was dark in the room with only a single slat of moonlight coming in through the window. He mumbled something in his sleep and turned on his side. The breeze from the open window ruffled the sheer curtain across it.

In the corner, the figure sat very still, observing the only occupant in the room. His black eyes were motionless. There was a glare from the moonlight that made the eyes seem brighter. He was proud of his assignment and wanted to do his best. He continued to watch as Hutch made other sleepy noises. It was time to reveal who he was and what he wanted.

The white bear perched on top of the dresser, his body sort of flopped over to one side. His black eyes stared out into the room but held the promise of understanding and love. He was in a dark room, with only moonlight streaking in through the open window. The other contents on top of the dresser made no sense to him but made him feel important all the same. There was a gold watch with a chain connected to it. He could hear it softly ticking. Then there was this leather wallet thing. He had never seen the inside of it but it sure looked important. He could tell that it was faded and there were thumb prints across it. Then along with other assorted stuff important only to humans, was a picture. Three people were in that picture and boy did they look happy. My favorite lady was sandwiched between two very happy men. They had her in between them pressing wet, sloppy kisses on her cheeks. She had big, happy eyes and the guys looked like they were trying to kiss her and not giggle at the same time.

The only human in the room was stretched out in bed, not at all concerned that a stuffed bear was watching over him and about to tell a very important story.

A bear? A stuffed bear? A Teddy Bear? Yes, you might question my ability to tell this story. Well let me tell you something. I'm just going to come right out and tell you, up front and the truth now. Pay no attention to the woman who thinks she's making this story up. She thinks she's talking **for** me but I've got news for all of you. Are you ready?

Okay, my name is Ollie. Yep, that's right Ollie. I'm a cute, white teddy bear and I live with Ken Hutchinson. I used to live with someone else but I'll get to that too. I just want to make sure you understand that it's really me who's talking here. Humans never believe we can talk. Most of the time it's only the little ones who believe. We certainly can talk and do talk a lot. We also are very opinionated. Sometimes, the right people aren't listening or it's not time for them to understand. But me, now I have special powers. They were given to me when I first moved in with the nice lady with the pretty hair and eyes.

I got to sit on her bed and watch as she moved through her life. She was really nice. She had a job where she helped little kids with special needs. You know, they needed extra special amounts of loving, extra hugs and extra encouragment. Her name was Terry. She lived her life and was pretty happy. But I kept hearing one voice in particular. Oh, she'd had other people in her apartment before but this voice was around for a long time. I got to see him a couple times. Now I might blush here but I gotta tell you, he stayed with her, right there in bed. Boy was she happy about that. She loved me and would sleep with me when he wasn't around. But when this dark haired, bouncy human showed up, she was very happy with him. Now I'm not one to be jealous mind you because I'm supposed to share my human with others who make her happy. I was supposed to watch over Terry and make sure she stayed happy. So what if those other guys didn't stay long and they never got to meet me. But David, yeah, that was his name. He was special. You see, my magic worked.

Anyway, we all got along great. There was a lot oflaughter that I could hear. Humans have this expression which I think is really dumb. When there's a situation going on that they'd love to know about, they say they wish they could be a fly on the wall and listen in. Well, believe me, those flies don't understand a thing they hear. How could they understand when they're so little and they never sit still? You're better off with a bear in your arms. Then all you have to do is give us (umm excuse me, I mean, give **ME**) a big hug and we'll tell you everything you want to know. And we always tell the truth.

But see, that's part of my problem. I tend to stray from my story and give my opinion about stuff but I guess that's a flaw when I was made. Or it could be this person that still thinks she's responsible for the words you are reading. When will humans learn? We stuffed animals have a union and we are very careful about following what ever our instructions are when we first find a permanent home. But don't get me wrong. I know life isn't always easy or happy. But I provide Terry with hope. I just want her to know that no matter what, she can depend on me. Once I'm in her life, that's it. I guarantee that I'll always be with her and love her. That is until she passes me on to someone else who loves her like I do.

I don't remember much before I came to live with Terry. I didn't become important until she took me and loved me. I'll tell you about my life with her first and then explain how I came to live with Ken. I promise, you'll appreciate knowing how this all happened.

My instructions were to watch over Terry and keep her happy. The one thing they don't tell you in stuffed bear college is that human life sometimes gets in the way of our job. When life makes our owners unhappy, well, that's when we can be the most help. When Terry got sad, she'd pick me up and sqeeze me. I'd let her know that I loved her or that whatever was making her sad, she'd understand it and I'd help her. She could see it in my eyes and feel my teddy heart beating for her. She trusted me. She knew that I was special.

One particular day started out really good. I felt really lucky because Terry picked me up and held me all day. We even went on a walk. We walked for hours. I wondered why my head got wet. I knew it wasn't a lot of water, just enough to make me really watch her and find out what was going on. That's when I saw the water was coming from her eyes. Those are called tears.

Sometimes humans cry when they're happy. Terry did that a lot with David. She'd pick me up and all three of us would be scrunched in a chair together or (exuse me again while I blush) even in bed. It was so cozy and I could tell by the noises they made that they were happy. Yeah, I'd find myself on the floor a time or two but that was okay. I just rolled around on the floor being happy that they were happy.

But anyway, this time was different. People cry when they're sad too. She was alone and she kept talking to me. You wanna hear the conversation? See that's another special trick I have. I can let you in on special conversations, special things I see, all because I know you humans want to know. Because I know you care about the guy I live with now. You care about Ken. But we've got a soft spot for David, too. But hold on, let's get back to that conversation. I'll be glad to share it with you.

_"Ollie, what am I gonna do? I don't want to leave Dave. I love him! We're best friends. Why did this happen to me?"_

Terry rubbed her head but we continued walking. It didn't seem we were really going anywhere special. We just walked. I tried to tell Terry that since David made her so happy, she should make him promise that they'd always be friends. I wasn't sure I understood what she was talking about next, but maybe you will.

"_Ollie, I'm going to die. This bullet in my head can't be removed. Sure I could live for awhile if I stayed in bed and didnt' move. But I can't give up. I love life too much. I need to be with my kids at the school. They need me. I need David. I'm going to leave you and David in Ken's care. He'll watch out for both of you and never let you change. But Ollie, don't let anything happen to either one of them okay? I'm counting on you. Just watch out for both of them. They'll be good to you but you gotta love them no matter what."_

So we walked a little more until we went back home. Oh great! We walked in the door and there's David! He crushed us both in a big (yup, I'll say it) a BIG bear hug! But he wasn't happy. Terry wasn't happy. But they talked more about this dying thing. That's something else they don't tell us in stuffed bear college. Death. Must be pretty scary to make both these people cry. There's a lot of that going on lately. But David has her wrapped up in his strong arms again and I'm just soaking it all up. I can tell that this is going to be one of those moments that Ken is going to want to know about later.

See, even though I lived with Terry first, I knew all about David and Ken. They are important to Terry so I know all about anybody who's important to her. It's part of what was put inside me before I came to live with Terry. The ability to know everything about Terry and all that's important to her. How else do you think I'm able to comfort her and make her feel safe? Right now I can't tell Ken anything or even David for that matter, but that's coming. As long as Terry listens to me, I'll do all I can to make sure she knows she can trust me. I especially want her to know that she can count on Ken and David.

It seems like it has been awhile since I saw Terry. She left one day to go to school but she didn't come back. I sat on the bed but didn't even hear her voice or David either. The apartment was so quiet. Really, really quiet. I was lonely. I liked it when Terry came home and she'd change her clothes and tell me about her day. Usually she was happy because Sally had been really happy or Sally had done something that Terry said she was proud of. On a really good day, she'd sit on the bed and hold me and talk about David. Then she was really happy and dreaming about being together for a long time. But now, there wasn't any of that. No lights came on. The phone didn't ring. No one came to the door. Not David, not even the next door neighbor. It was just quiet.

While I was just wondering what I should do, I heard the door open. It slammed shut pretty loud. Then nothing again. But I knew somebody was out there. I heard talking but wasn't sure who it was or what they were saying.

Oh you're back! Hey, I really missed you David. Hey, where's Terry? David? Uh-ohh. David sat on the bed and picked me up. Man was his heart going crazy. He was also shivering. That's one thing I don't understand is cold and hot. Well, that's not what you want to hear about now.

David held me real tight. I mean I was used to squeezes and hugs and even group hugs with David and Terry. But I never felt anything like this. He held on to me and rocked back and forth with me in his arms. There was that wetness on my head again. Tears. Now I was confused and scared. Why was he crying? Where was Terry? All of this was more than I could deal with. I didn't know what to think. But then he started talking and my teddy heart just wanted to split into millions of pieces. I didn't like what I heard and I didn't like David's voice. But now I understood. I was needed somewhere else now.

_"Oh god, what am I gonna do? How--- . Ollie, Terry's gone. I don't know how to deal with this. You smell like her."_

David stopped talking and just cried. He said a few things which I couldn't hear. I guess he really wasn't talking to me but it hurt me just the same. He wanted Terry. Now I understood. It was that Death thing again. So now I belonged to Ken. Ken would help David. Terry told me that.

David held me tighter and his face sank into the top of my head. I didn't know earlier what was expected of me but now I did. I let him talk on. Most of the time he just cried. He shivered against me and finally he just fell backward across the bed. But he never let go of me. He held on tight and it felt really good. The harder he clutched at me, the more I could let him know that Terry was right there with him.

Finally he got quiet but then someone else came into the bedroom. It was Ken. He stood at the door a minute, just watching us. Then he started talking and I was so proud. I knew eventually both these men would be okay but Ken said what David needed to hear. It didn't bring Terry back, but it reminded David that he wasn't alone.

_"Starsky-- Terry loved you. She gave you the rest of her life. I can't say a damn thing that's gonna change this but let me help you. Just talk to me."_

Ken finally moved from the doorway and sat on the bed. David was curled up on the bed, still holding me tightly. Ken didn't try to move either one of us but he reached out and stroked David's face. Then he moved his hand over and fluffed at my ear. Boy that felt good. He has such nice hands. I felt his hand shake as he did it. I saw the tears in his eyes too. We sat there for probably what you humans would call an hour. Nobody said much. But David finally sat up and reached out to Ken. That's when I was part of a three way hug again. That felt good too. We all needed each other.

_'Hutch, Prudholm gets to live and Terry didn't. I hate him! He ruined more than just two lives Hutch. How do I forgive what happened? I can't imagine my life without her.'_

David's heart was still pounding against me. We got up off the bed and he started pacing back and forth. He opened her closet and just stood there. He moved into it a little closer. Picked up one of her blouses and just covered his face in it. Then he did something that as long as I live I'll never forget. He took that blouse out of the closet and he just slid down the wall. He sat against that wall with the blouse to his face and didn't move. Ken got up and offered David his hand. David looked at it in confusion. He knew Ken offered his hand in kindness but he only shook his head. Ken hesitated. He didn't want to leave David alone but he also knew that with me beside hm, David would be okay.

Okay now I had a new job to do. I was responsible for David and Ken. Terry told me to take care of them and to let them know that she was okay. But she told Ken to watch over David and me so that we would always stay the same. Terry knew that I knew that I was meant to watch over them. Eventually I moved in with Ken. I didn't know just how important or challenging my job was going to be.

**-------**

**the end!! Until my imagination grabs me again with another Starsky and Hutch idea!!**


End file.
